This is a lovely little tree i collected last year,i was looking at it yesterday and deciced it was time to remove the unwanted parts.This was a rooted branch of a much larger tree.You can see the hole where it came from.

This tree has everything going for it,size bark movement age health,a good reminder of why we collect.

The night came the kids were kissed goodbye the car was loaded pleasentries exchanged with the loved one etc!

And that was it then,easy st now pick up Ian reload the car at Tonys pop over to gingko show some trees drink some beer talk a load of crap drink some more beer spend a load of money make new friends from all over the world have some lovely food come home feeling drained....

Gingko really is special,but i think its right Danny is holding the show every 5 yrs instead now.It was holding bonsai back,people were rushing just to get a tree in at each one,i may be guilty of getting caught up in that as well,i think things may just move at a slower pace now,the correct speed for bonsai.There are shortcuts to succsess,but there the longer road to getting it right.My route has changed now.

So finally after working on the foliage for a few days,i came up with a final image.Then i made what i now think was a big mistake....The leaves were a little light in colour,so i put it in my garage for 2 weeks to make the foliage darker.This works beautifully on all of my other tree's but this ended up a little unhappy a few days before the show.Never mind you live and learn....

The end result was lovely,then came the downside,branches all over the show from being all wrapped up and gingko only one month away....This was 2 weeks later after letting the tree rest,and some of the disorder reordered!

So me and Tony had decided the only way to improve the deadwood was to sandblast it.This had possibly been done in japan,but on too high a setting and a lot of detail had been lost.This was a first time for me,so i let tony guide me and take over as and when he needed to.Sand blasting is a artform all of its own.

I had taken some wood off,tony insisted on more coming off,so we went for it.

This really started at the gingko 2005 when i met steve tolley,and arranged a visit to his nursery,gingko 5 was a great exhibition,i was kicking myself that none of my yamadori would be ready for ten years when i stumbled across my lovely little itoigawa which featured on here earlier,it had came from kawabe.Now the pressing thought was how can i make this better,if your going to gingko you want to impress,not an easy thing amongst so many great trees.So here it was before work began again.

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

Wednesday, 15 August 2007

This is a Pinus Strobus which belong's to Les,he kindly let me work on it recently,it was originally styled by the great Dan Barton,a honour indeed to rework this.

As is the great tradition of things we didnt take any before shots,which is a pity as it was very overgrown,and really was'nt very inspiring to look at,but it began to catch my eye as Les was clearing it out,and a wiring challenge was set.

It would be impossible to know what Dan's original intentions were for the tree,but this is what i tried to envisage,after all Dan is the master.It turned into a very naturalistic pine,and as this is only a 2nd styling all the needles were left downwards,not upwards(a tip which marco told me).

So now barton's pine is reborn,it really doesnt matter who done the 1st 2nd 3rd or 100th styling of a tree,what matter's is the tree itself and the input everyone as a whole has into it,we all must learn to be less egotystical about who done what when,it really is'nt important,what is important is to keep the spirit of this tree which Dan installed into it,i think Barton's pine is a fitting tribute to what could one day become a very good tree.

2 greenhouse pics from a few years ago,other from sunday after styling,the basic structure

Wednesday, 8 August 2007

A good mate of mine,Les had the good fortune to somehow wangle a all expenses paid trip to Japan this year,about the only good thing to say about him is that at least he gave me the pictures! So over the next few weeks i'll try and put a good selection of pictures,starting with kimura's garden,then kobayashi's,followed up with a satsuki show,and then a few of the vendor's garden's,anything to declare in that hand luggage Les?

I'm going to sand blast my kawabe juniper on fri morning,this tree will go to the prestigous gingko show this year,i'll put some pics up here after that,i've already enhanced the carving,tommorow i'll prep it all up so none of the live gets damaged.

This is one from a earlier post,i've decided to show it on this stand this year instead,i think it looks better.This is it before i worked the foliage,and afterwards a few weeks ago,i've since enhanced the carving,but you'll have to come to the show to see that,or wait till i put some pics up next week.

Friday, 15 June 2007

So the mid branch came off,the scar will be carved later.I dont see much point in detail carving a hawthorn,the wood rots too easily where i live due to the amount of rain we get.Far better to put a few woodlice in there pack it with sphagnum moss and let them do their job!

i carved the stump left from the upper trunk,and reduced the height of what remained of the "apex"

This is not a apex at all as the tree will be further reduced in height so the apex can be composed of upward growing branches,nothing is worse than deciduous tree's rushed along with branches manipulated to make it look as though it has a apex,if your going to do some thing do it properly!

So this is the result after hacking that part of the trunk off,it had to go too straight,no taper and the bark begins to lose character etc.

Working with the front of the tree,with lower branch pointing towards the right i set about limiting my problems,so next year i should be able to wire it properly.

The next big problem was the 2nd branch,it comes straight towards you,then turns back on itself,i could never use it in my preferred front,so after thought's of tilting the tree and using it as a apex which didn't work it also had to come off.

A few weeks ago i decided to hack this one down to the dimensions it needs to be approximately. This would have been better done in febuary,but time as always was a issue,and i wanted to check first that it would bud as strongly as in the previous year.This tree is only in it's 2nd growing season,and normally i wouldnt work on them this soon,but it's very strong,so sword(or saw)in hand i had a great day hacking away!

Ponderosa Bonsai

View my stock for sale at:-http://ponderosa-bonsaiforsale.blogspot.comI have a stock of yamadori which i am willing to trade,this is comprised mainly of yew's,hawthorn's and blackthorn's(also a few privets at the moment).Also all of my finished tree's could be available if the right offer was made.Contact me if you wish to trade/buy,on 07821433147 or e~mail l.kennedy5@ntlworld.com

About Me

Bonsai has become a major part of my life,more than a hobby,better than an obbsession,and it all starts on the hill.Going out for a day on the hill with good friends,never knowing what may be just around the corner,the laughs the tears the envy when Tony has just found another cracker!
This is only the start of a never ending journey though,i may be young~ish in bonsai terms,but even i have tree's that i may never see to full maturity!
Every day i try to learn a bit more,to reach my goals in life but the more you learn the more there is to forget,a great piece of work this year will look amateur~ish next year,will the journey ever end?